Inside the battle for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat

In the wake of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s death, the race to replace her seat has come down to three Democratic Representatives and two Republicans, one of them a former baseball star — with voters deciding which pair of candidates will proceed to the November ballot on Tuesday.

This race comes after Senator Laphonza Butler, who took over Ms Feinstein’s seat, decided against running for the full term. The state’s Senate primary race, set to happen on Super Tuesday, will determine which two candidates will advance to the November election. Voters will see all candidates on the same ballot, regardless of party.

The candidates include Democrats Katie Porter, Adam Schiff, and Barbara Lee, all currently serving in Congress, and Republican Steve Garvey, a former major league baseball player. Businessman and attorney Eric Early is also standing as a Republican.

Despite Ms Porter’s previous victory in flipping a GOP-held Orange County seat and her infamous “whiteboard of justice” that earned her viral fame, polls currently have her Democratic challenger Representative Adam Schiff as the winner of Tuesday’s vote.

A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found that 24 per cent of likely primary voters support Mr Schiff, while 19 per cent said they supported Ms Porter. Mr Garvey secured 18 per cent of likely voters in the poll.

Meanwhile, Ms Lee got 10 per cent of the vote, while Mr Early had just 4 per cent.

Katie Porter is trailing Adam Schiff in polls ahead of the California Senate primary

Throughout his Senate campaign, Mr Schiff has used campaign ads to paint this race as a battle between him and Mr Garvey, whom Mr Schiff has attempted to paint as too conservative for the state. Mr Garvey has quite shallow